MS Dhoni

India •
33 years old

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Born on
July 07, 1981 at Ranchi

Right Handed Batsman
and Right-arm medium bowler

Teams played for Chennai, Asia XI, India, Indians

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's arrival in Indian cricket and his subsequent rise has been a story of unprecedented success, punctuated by the occasional blip. Of all the players of the present generation, it ...
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Batting stats

M

Inn

Runs

HS

Avg

SR

NO

100

50

4s

6s

Tests

90

144

4876

224

38.09

59.12

16

6

33

544

78

ODI

262

228

8499

183

52.46

89.17

66

9

58

661

183

T20I

50

45

849

48

33.96

116.3

20

0

0

57

24

IPL

112

99

2616

70

40.88

142.25

35

0

14

191

109

CL

24

23

449

63

29.93

141.19

8

0

1

28

26

Bowling stats

M

Inn

B

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Econ

Avg

SR

5W

10W

Tests

90

7

96

67

0

1 / 0

1 / 0

4.19

0

0

0

0

ODI

262

2

36

31

1

14 / 1

14 / 1

5.17

31

36

0

0

T20I

50

0

0

0

0

- / -

- / -

0

0

0

0

0

IPL

112

0

0

0

0

- / -

- / -

0

0

0

0

0

CL

24

1

12

25

0

25 / 0

25 / 0

12.5

0

0

0

0

ICC Rankings

Batting

Current Rank

Career Best

TEST

36

19

ODI

8

(2 up)

1

Bowling

Current Rank

Career Best

TEST

--

-

ODI

--

-

-- indicates player not in top 100Rank changes shown are of the last 30 days

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's arrival in Indian cricket and his subsequent rise has been a story of unprecedented success, punctuated by the occasional blip. Of all the players of the present generation, it is Dhoni who symbolises the new India well. Aggressive without being brash, successful without being arrogant, and seemingly possessing a Midas touch, Dhoni is the perfect blend of a role-model and pin-up star.

Dhoni announced himself on the international stage with an array of almost agricultural shots and a bat that he wielded like an axe. In his fifth match, he smashed 148 off a Pakistan attack that didn't know what hadhit them. Six months later, he went one better, to score a brutal 183 not out against Sri Lanka in an innings that made Virender Sehwag look snail-like. That innings also saw him break Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicket-keeper in a One Day International.

Dhoni's arrival ended India's long search for a wicket-keeper who could also bat, and he now has the most number of dismissals in ODIs and Tests by an Indian keeper.

His growing stature and cool-headedness led to his appointment as India's captain for the inaugural T20 WC, where Dhoni's calm leadership steered India to victory. He then became the ODI captain after Rahul Dravid relinquished the post, and eventually, ascended to the full-time Test captaincy once Anil Kumble retired.

Leadership saw him change his batting style, as he made a shift from being explosive to being more reliable. With an ODI average that has crossed 50, and a strike-rate that remains in the high 80s, the shift has worked for Dhoni.

As a leader, his hallmarks have been his ability to not duck behind excuses and his ability to maintain his cool under situations of extreme pressure. Dhoni's biggest triumph was winning the World Cup in 2011, which India won after 28 years owing to his exemplary batting display in the final and calm and methodical leadership. Post World Cup, when the Indian team struggled to perform to the levels they did in the previous two years, Dhoni became a lone-warrior for the ODI team on many occasions. In that period, he became the first captain in ODI history to record a century batting at No.7 in 2012, against Pakistan at Chennai when he scored a stunning 113 walking in to the crease when India were 29 for 5.

Although his fierce captaincy helped India achieve success and grab the top spot in Test cricket, eight back-to-back Test losses against England and Australia overseas put his image as a Test batsman and captain in question. To add fuel to fire, the 1-2 drubbing India received at home from England in the Test series in 2012 earned him criticism from many former players.

In the Border-Gavaskar series in 2013, Dhoni became the first Indian wicket-keeper to hit a double hundred in Tests when he smashed 224 in the first Test at Chennai - the best knock of his career so far. His fluent innings gave India a much-needed victory in the first Test of the series, earning him the respect he had lost during the lean patch the previous year. He also became the first Indian wicket-keeper to complete 4,000 runs in Test cricket. After a convincing win in the second Test match, he crossed Sourav Ganguly's record of 21 Test wins and became the most successful Test captain for India. Under his captaincy, India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series.

As a captain, Dhoni had a fine run in 2013. In the month of June, Dhoni helped India to win their second Champions Trophy title. He also became the first captain in the history to win all three ICC global events. He led India to victory in the 2007 T20 WC, 2011 ICC World Cup title and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.

India then won the ODI series against Australia and whitewashed West Indies in Tests in November 2013. In the third ODI against Australia in October 2013, Dhoni became the fastest Indian captain to complete 5,000 runs in ODIs after Mohammad Azharuddin (5,239) and Sourav Ganguly (5,082). The following month, in the second ODI against West Indies at Vizag, Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper-batsman in history to captain his country in 150 One Day Internationals. He is also the second Indian after Mohammad Azharuddin to captain India in 150 matches. Azharuddin holds the Indian record with 174 games as the leader of the side.

He led the side to the finals of the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, in which India lost to Sri Lanka. Dhoni also is the captain of Chennai franchise, one of the most successful teams in the history of Indian Premier League, which won back-to-back titles in the years 2010 and 2011 and also the Champions League T20 in the years 2010 and 2014.

While Dhoni's keeping record was very good, his Test captaincy came under severe criticism, especially after India's continuous losses overseas. One of India's modern day legends, moments after helping India draw the Melbourne Test in 2014, he announced his retirement from Test cricket. He cited excess workload as the reason for quitting the longest format of the game. However, Dhoni stressed that he would continue to play ODIs and T20Is.